


bad and good

by covellite



Series: ARFOV [1]
Category: Hermitcraft RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire, Attempted Murder, M/M, Minor Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-28
Updated: 2020-12-28
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:14:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,915
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28377543
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/covellite/pseuds/covellite
Summary: Three small moments in Scar's life, a week apart.
Relationships: Charles | Grian/GoodTimesWithScar, Cubfan135/GoodTimesWithScar (Video Blogging RPF)
Series: ARFOV [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2059134
Comments: 2
Kudos: 32





	bad and good

He knows the town well. He lived there maybe a decade earlier, and still remembers it fondly. But that was when he was playing a different character, a different Scar, so he pushes the memories aside. He's only there for a quick meal and a chance at profit.

Miss Dailey was old even when Scar lived in the town, and he knows she's still alive. More importantly, she's incredibly rich, more rich than Scar could have imagined being back when he was a kid. She has no husband, no kids, no close relatives or friends; when she dies, no one will check her corpse for foul play.

He sneaks in through the back door in the middle of the night, careful not to be seen by any of the townsfolk who might for some reason still be up and about. There's rumors of a wild animal attacking people in the area, so Scar wouldn't be surprised if the town has some sort of watch force.

Miss Dailey's house is just as grand and stuffy as Scar remembers, but there's something about it that has him pausing. A smell of blood permeating through the air. It's fresh, too.

Following the scent up to the bedroom, Scar doesn't know what he expects. Miss Dailey dead on the floor while a young man rifles through her jewelry is almost tame compared to his bizarre fantasies.

The man turns as Scar enters the room, looking Scar up and down before grinning at him.

"Sorry, mate. Looks like we both had the same idea for dinner." The man wipes at the blood on his chin as he speaks, smearing it against his skin. He's cute, even if he is taking what Scar was rightfully about to steal, and Scar figures he might as well try and get something out of the night.

"That's alright," he says casually, leaning against the doorframe and not even wincing when dust clouds up at the action. "But since you got her blood, don't you think I should get her stuff?"

"What, this crap?" The man scoffs and tosses a necklace at Scar, then giggles when Scar fails to catch it. "You can have it. It's so… tacky."

"Wait, really? All of it?"

"Sure, though I gotta admit, I don't think this stuff suits you. It's a bit old fashioned."

"Well, yeah, but-" Scar realizes that maybe he shouldn't tell the man that he's planning on selling the jewelry, not wearing it, and shuts his mouth. "Do you need help taking care of the body?" he asks instead. The man looks at him like he's grown a second head.

"No?" he says. "What does that even mean, take care of the body?"

"You know, make it look like she died in a normal human way instead of getting sucked up by a vampire."

"Are we supposed to do that?"

"I- yeah? All the other vampires I know do it."

The man shrugs. "If you want, then sure. I always forget humans these days don't consider vampires to be a natural cause of death."

Scar looks up from where he's leaning over the body, about to pick it up. "How old  _ are _ you?"

"That's rude," the man sniffs. "And I dunno. Four hundred, five hundred years? Maybe six."

"So you're one of the first."

"Yeah, I guess so. How old are you?" The man pulls the blankets back as Scar heaves the body onto the bed, then drapes them carelessly over it. The scene’s not entirely realistic, but it’s good enough.

"I was turned about thirty years ago."

"You're so young." The man presses his hands to his face and cooes. "Aww."

"Shut up." Scar's face goes warm. "Hand over that jewelry box."

The man does as asked. "I'm Grian, by the way. What's your name?"

"Scar. Bad Times, specifically."

Grian raises an eyebrow. "What, is there a Good Times too?" he asks, almost mockingly.

"Yeah."

"Oh." Grian blinks. "Okay then."

The thought of his brother, probably living the wonderful domestic life with Cub, sours Scar's mood, and he shakes his head to get rid of the thought. "Anyway. It was nice meeting you, mister Grian. Guess I'll see you around."

"Wait!"

Scar waits. A grin stretches across Grian's face, his red eyes gleaming with  _ something _ that makes Scar's face even warmer.

"I ruined your dinner plans. Let me make it up to you."

Innuendo rings clear in his voice, and Scar barely has to stop to consider it. Grian is annoying, very much so, but he is also cute, and Scar's not going to turn down the opportunity for some low-consequences fun.

He stands up straighter so he can look down at Grian in a way he hopes is intriguing. "What did you have in mind?"

He ends up spending an entire week with Grian, who becomes much more charming once Scar stops seeing him as some sort of competition. He stows the jewelry box away when he gets the chance, but despite the jokes Grian makes, Scar doesn't think he'd actually try and steal it. Temporarily, maybe, but not for real.

After that week they go their separate ways, but Grian makes a point of telling Scar where he'll likely be for the next month or so. Scar almost wishes he could do the same, but it's almost time for him to go visit his brother, and he has no idea where he will be going after that.

His brother is already waiting underneath the big oak tree when Scar arrives.

"I thought we said midnight," Scar says with a scowl.

"We did. Isn’t it midnight now?"

"It's nearly one."

"That's- you know when I say midnight I mean midnight- _ ish _ ." Scar holds up his journal and tosses it to him, who throws his own journal back almost as an afterthought. "How's Cub?"

"He's fine. Same as always. All excited today about the newest science thing. I wasn't paying attention."

"Dude," Scar complains as he flips through the notebook. "I asked you to pay attention. How am I supposed to talk about his interests with him if I don't  _ know what his interests are _ ?"

"Play dumb. It's worked for you your entire life so far."

He swats at Scar's arm. "Ooh, we saw a shooting star? That's amazing!"

"Who's this Grian guy?" Scar asks.

"Can't you read?"

"Is he any good?"

"I… yeah. And he's a lot of fun."

"Hm." Scar flips the page, and rolls his eyes. "Did you  _ tell him _ where our hiding spot is?"

"No," Scar says.

"I'm gonna check it first thing tomorrow. There'd better not be anything missing." Scar closes his notebook, and Scar does the same. They both take off their jackets in unison, swapping them without a second thought.

"Anything I need to know about that's not in the journal?" Scar asks. He's expecting another roll of the eyes, but Scar pauses.

"Yeah, actually. I got hurt while cutting wood." Scar shows him the palm of his hand, where a partially-healed scar makes a jagged line from his thumb to his pinky. "Should heal by tomorrow night, but you know the drill."

Scar does, even if he's already dreading it. This happens every time to at least one of them, he should be prepared, but he never is. He winces as Scar pulls out his knife and grabs his hand.

"Relax," Scar says. "If I can survive getting shot, you can survive a little knife wound."

"I'm pretty sure you  _ didn't _ survive."

"Well, I got turned right after, so I guess we're both right."

Searing pain erupts from his hand, and Scar whimpers. Scar wipes at the injury with the sleeve of his jacket, the leather rough against the broken skin.

"Hey look, a cool new stain on my jacket. Something good comes out of this." Scar grins.

"You enjoy being Bad a little too much," Scar says.

"And you enjoy being Good too much. I wonder why." Scar's eyes flicker to where Scar knows Cub’s home lies, too far away to be seen. "Anyway. See you in two months. Midnight.  _ Actual _ midnight, Julian."

And with that, his brother is gone.

He’s careful enough that Cub doesn’t wake when he crawls into bed next to him, but Cub still moves, still wraps an arm around him and relaxes like he knew in his sleep he was alone and only feels comfortable now that Scar is there with him. Scar’s probably projecting, but he likes feeling wanted, so he lets it slide.

The first day back is always a little odd, but Scar’s used to pretending he understands what Cub is talking about, so nothing goes wrong. The cut on his hand heals without Cub mentioning it at all, and Scar wonders if he even knows about the injury, but there’s no way for him to ask without it being suspicious. So he says nothing, just lets Cub ramble about his newest ideas that Scar doesn’t understand but is enthralled about nonetheless. He will understand them one day, he’s promised himself, and everytime he rereads Cub’s books and papers they make a little bit more sense. But for now he will just let the words wash over him and nod along.

He falls easily back into their routine, helping Cub around the house and working on his art and sneaking glances at Cub’s books. He can’t read them where Cub might see him; his brother doesn’t care about science nearly as much as he does, and refuses to learn. In his less Good moments, Scar wonders if his brother even cares about Cub. That’s a Bad thought, though, so he won’t let himself acknowledge it. His brother could have killed Cub back when they first met, he was the one who met Cub properly, but he didn’t, so he must feel  _ something _ for him, even if it’s not the same feeling that Scar has. Scar’s willing to admit he’ll be grateful if he finds out his brother has no interest in Cub. Their relationship is weird enough as it is.

He and Cub do not have a romantic relationship, nor a physical one. Scar and his brother agreed not to have romantic attachments long ago, back when they were still human. Physical isn’t off the table, Grian and a few others could attest to that, but it would feel wrong to do so with Cub. He’s human, for one thing. For another, he’s  _ Cub _ . He isn’t like the others, he isn’t a game for Scar to play with. His brother accepts this, even though he makes it clear he doesn’t like it. Their life is half compromise and half communication. It’s also half making it up as they go along, but even Scar knows three halves don’t make a whole, so his math must be messed up somewhere.

A look at the calendar distracts him. It’s nearly Cub’s birthday again, and as much as Scar is glad he gets to be the one with Cub on that day, the reminder that Cub will one day grow old lies heavy in his chest. He’s suggested turning to Cub before, at least that’s what his journal says, and he knows how Cub reacted. He’s terrified of vampires, he was even scared of Scar before they became friends, and Scar thinks Cub would rather die than become one. Scar will just have to accept Cub’s mortality before it’s too late. Before he does something he knows he can never take back.


End file.
